Tea party, not Obama to blame for shutdown

Mr. Corn is incorrect in inferring in a recent letter that President Barack Obama engineered the government shutdown. In fact it was Congress, namely the House of Representatives, that was at fault.

Congress has the sole authority to fund bills, and when it refused to allow funding for the current fiscal year, the government had no funds to operate and was forced to shut down. The executive branch had to decide which areas of the government — the least essential, at first — to close. (FAA air traffic controllers, for example, continued to operate).

It was the GOP tea party members of the House who shut down the government in the mistaken belief they could stop the Affordable Health Care bill — a law passed by Congress and affirmed by the Supreme Court — from taking effect. This move cost our economy billions of dollars and delayed services to many, including veterans. (And as a veteran, I can assure you we don’t all vote Republican).

Reasonable Republicans finally joined congressional Democrats in reopening our government. Let’s hope the tea party group has learned its lesson and doesn’t try this disastrous ploy again.

JAMES W. RAMSEY

Kootenai